May 6th. Early afternoon. Back to the pond east of Route 207, hoping to see the Great Blue Heron's mate arrive to take over incubation duties. The same routine as the morning: the male took frequent breaks from incubation to tidy the nest, perhaps roll the eggs?
(For the morning pictures, scroll down at the previous page: https://performance-vision.com/airline2019/airline-spring-19h.html )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Delicate adjustment of one of the twigs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During a lull in the action (such as it was), I noticed this Bumble Bee (Family Bombidae) feeding at Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum).

 

 

 

May 7th. Back to Raymond Brook Marsh and another Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius).

 

First male Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) of the year.

 

 

 

From the marsh to the pond east of Route 207 to check on the heron nest (just right of center). I was surprised to see another heron high in another tree far to the left, barely visible in this distant shot.

 

Here he is, looking over towards yesterday's nest. I guessed he was the mate, waiting to take over incubation.

 

(Until I came home and started editing, I hadn't seen the pile of sticks he was standing on.)

 

So, another nest under construction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually, a heron flew in from the right and took over at the nest I'd started watching yesterday.

 

This shot from further east on the trail gives a better sense of how close the second nest is to the first.

 

The male back to work on the second nest.

 

 

 

 

 

While all this was going on, an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) flew over...

 

...and perched at the far western end of the pond, far from the trail.